Microsoft Built An Advanced AI To Protect Windows 10 Users From Malware

Security
Observing, pondering, and writing about tech. Generally in that order.

In the last two months we've seen a pair of massive malware outbreaks that compromised computers around the globe. In May it was WannaCry. This week, the Petya ransomware has been ravaging systems. Protecting nearly half a billion computers against advanced threats like these is incredibly difficult, which is why Microsoft's next big Windows 10 update will feature AI-powered malware defenses.

Windows 10 Creators UpdateMicrosoft

It's the next big evolution of Windows Defender, which has come a long, long way since it first started taking shape back in 2004. In 2017, an anti-malware app can't get by on definition updates alone. Today, security software needs to be smarter. It needs to be able to watch what your computer is doing, to gather and interpret clues, and to use that information to determine when something malicious is going on and intervene before something disastrous happens.

Naturally the data from one computer wouldn't really give an anti-malware a lot to go on. Microsoft has a slightly larger pool to draw on, though: the collective intelligence gathered from 400 million or so Windows systems.

Microaoft's Avi Sagiv says the "cloud-based security intelligence" shifts Windows users "from a world of isolated defenses to a smart, interconnected, and coordinated defense grid." That "grid," he notes, is "intelligent[...]and ever-changing," which means it's getting smarter all the time.

With the cloud-driven AI helping out, Microsoft will be able to act on suspicious activity like keylogging or, say, a macro in a Word document trying to download files from the Internet. Previously-unseen malware can be identified and neutralized faster than ever before.

Not even an AI backed by the power of half a billion Windows 10 computers will stop every new threat in its tracks... but it's definitely going to make a big difference in the fight against malware. For those haven't made the move to Windows 10 yet, the improved defenses arriving this fall ought to provide a strong incentive to do it.

Lee started writing about software, hardware, and geek culture around the time that the Red Wings last won the Stanley Cup. The two aren't related in any way, however. When he's not catching up on tech news or blogging about it, you can find him watching or playing baseball...